Orlando-based Battalion To Help With Bosnia Mission

An Orlando-based Army battalion is being called upon again to help with an overseas military operation.

Soldiers from a battalion based at the Naval Training Center will be leaving for Bosnia today to provide support to Operation Joint Endeavor, the peacekeeping mission in the Balkans.

The Orlando battalion, part of the 513th Military Intelligence Brigade, already has provided support to eight missions throughout the world this year, said Lt. Col. Robert Seetin, the battalion's commander.

The battalion has about 300 soldiers, two-thirds of whom are reserves, and has provided support in Haiti, Korea, Bosnia and Albania, among other places, he said.

With the impending shutdown of the Naval Training Center, the battalion is preparing to move to Fort Bliss, Texas, next summer.

Seetin said the deployment to Bosnia is ''pretty low key'' because the Orlando group is providing just four soldiers - two fuel handlers, a mechanic and a supply sergeant.

Overall, the 513th Military Intelligence Brigade will be providing about 40 soldiers to relieve American soldiers currently serving in Bosnia, said Sgt. 1st Class Pleasant Lindsey, public affairs officer for the brigade, based in Fort Gordon, Ga.

''We are trying to transition the original force out in December,'' Lindsey said.

The deployment will be for 179 days unless the mission ends before that, Lindsey said.